Redemption In The Inferno
by WillySmith1510
Summary: Our lives are made by the death of others. -Leonardo da Vinci- Is life worth living, then? When it comes at a great sacrifice? To lose what it means to be alive in the first place? Then, should we all die? Maybe this time, Death is the only answer...
1. Chapter 1

She was there, dying...

Numerous large glass shards from the broken window pierced through her small body figure.

I can't bear to watch it...

I slowly removed the glass shards from her body, then softly laid her down on the floor, around us surrounded by fire.

I walked close to her, she's breathing heavily, but her life's start draining away.

"...A year and a half ago...I hit you with an empty can...remember?"

She asked me, her voice sounded very softly, like a whisper.

What's she talking about?

I tried to remember...about what she told me.

...

_I can't..._

I shook my head in reply.

"...You're...so terrible." She whispered coldly.

"You're supposed to say you remember...even if it's not true..."

And then she closed her eyes for the last time...

Her breathing finally stopped.

_Damn it...not you too..._

Tears flow down my face.

I don't care anymore...

I don't even care about the wall of flames all around me. I don't even care about the explosions happening left and right. I don't even noticed that Mei is nowhere to be seen...

I've completely lost it.

I hold Izumi Akazawa's lifeless body tightly in my arms.

_At least, I need to get her body out of here...I can't leave her like this..._

And so, I slowly walked through the burning mansion.

"Misaki! Where are you!" I shouted as loud as possible. Trying to get a clue about where Mei could've been.

It's no use.

There's fire everywhere I can barely see anything.

At any rate, I'll be dead too if I stayed here for too long.

Tired from holding Izumi's body and all the struggles throughout the night, my knees suddenly collapsed.

I tried to get up, but the weigh from Izumi's body prevented me from going anywhere.

I could try dragging myself to the exit, but...

It would mean leaving her behind.

I know, it's illogical...

_She's already dead, there's nothing that I could do to save her..._

_What you're doing is pointless._

_If you leave her here, maybe you could still make it out of here._

I reached for the phone in my trousers.

"Yes! At least there's signal!"

I dialed the only phone number I think of.

"Come on, please go through..."

I prayed, to whatever miracles still left in this world, please...don't let me down just this one time...

It took too long, _far _too long...but finally, she picked up.

"Sakakibara?" The emotionless voice I'm familiar with spoke.

"Misaki? Are you okay?!" I asked her.

"Yes"

"Where are you?"

She quiet down for a little while.

"...the Backyard."

"Are you hurt." I asked her, worried that she might've hurt somewhere during the escape.

"I'm fine, but I can't really move..."

_At least she's still alive._

"...Listen, Misaki. Can you still walk?"

"Yes."

I took a deep breath.

"...Get out of here, Misaki. Live on..."

She remained quiet.

"...Why?"

"I can't make it...just...just promise me you'll stay alive, okay? Use your ability to find the extra one and...you know what to do...just end all of this. End this nightmare already..."

I coughed. The oxygen left in the atmosphere started to drain away from all the fires around me.

"...I already found the extra one, Sakakibara. I'm ready to end all of this, if you'll permit me..."

What?

What does she mean, permit?

"What...do you mean?"

"The extra one, it's..." Mei hesitated.

"Just tell me, Misaki..."

"It's...it's Reiko Mikami..."

What. The. Hell.

"...Are you...joking?"

I can't believe it...I...I don't believe it!

_This can't be true!_

"It's...it's true, Sakakibara...I'm...I'm sorry." Mei said. I can sense the sadness in her voice.

No, it can't be...

No way...

Reiko? The extra one?

My aunt is the extra one all along?

Then what about all the killings? All the deaths?

It's all pointless...all of this...

A fucking student killing spree for nothing...nothing at all.

And my aunt...she...she whom I loved so much...she...

She was the reason for all of this...

The fire's getting stronger. The floor above me started collapsing.

"...Sakakibara?"

Damn it, I can't think of anything now. My mind's starting to gone blank.

"...Mei...do...what you must do..." And then I collapsed.

I used my last bit of strength to cover Izumi's body from the falling debris.

"...Sakakibara?... Sakakibara?...Kouichi-kun!?" I heard Mei's voice from afar.

It seems like a voice from a distant place.

_So, this is it, huh?_

It's funny, knowing that I'm going to die and nothing's gonna stop it, yet I don't feel afraid at all.

_All my friends are dead anyways._

_Except her and a few survivors, I don't have anyone left._

I slowly closed my eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Suddenly, everything stopped.

I opened my eyes again, and found myself in a strange place.

It's surrounded by an empty, blank white space.

_Am I died? Is this heaven?_

"Why are you here?" A deep voice spoken up.

I looked around, and found a strange, mysterious person.

_Is he human?_

"What? Who are you? Where am I?" I asked.

"Who am I? I am who?" That person said.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew into my face, forced me to blink.

It was just a split second, but after I opened my eyes again, I saw a completely different person in front of me.

It was Izumi Akazawa.

"Izumi? But you're...you're..."

"Dead? Yes." She said, still retaining her usual impulsive voice.

"So, that means I'm already dead..." I said.

"No, not yet..." Izumi said, which made me surprised.

"But you will be soon unless you answer my questions." She told me.

"What...what do you mean?" I asked her, she remained silent.

"Why didn't you try to survive?" She asked me.

She asked a question I don't understand.

I looked at the floor beneath me, trying to think of something to say.

"I ask you, why didn't you try to survive?"

What? That wasn't Izumi's voice.

I looked up, and saw Tomohiko Kazami standing in where Izumi stood seconds before.

"What the heck?" I bluntly asked out, feeling a little shocked from what I've seen.

"Just answer the damn question, you idiot." He, she, whatever it is, said.

I tried to keep calm and think of what to say.

"...I...don't know it, either..." I said.

"...You don't know? Are you really sure you just wanted to give up your life for no reason at all?" Tomohiko asked.

"I'm trying to find a reason!" I shouted out angrily.

"A reason for me to keep on living! But there's none!" I screamed, tears started flowing through my face again.

"...All my friends are gone...almost everyone. My aunt turned out to be the extra one. Is there really anything out there left for me? Even if I made it out of all this, I'll be haunted by this horror for the rest of my life..." I said sorrowfully.

"...I...I don't want that...I can't...live with that..."

"But you can still be living." I turned to see Tomohiko again, only to find Aki Matsui in his place.

"What about you! What about the others who didn't make it!? They all died for nothing! They died trying to kill each other! They died while trying their best to live! They died as enemies while they should be friends! Friends from the same school, same _class_, damn it! They're ALL DEAD!" I screamed again. I'm completely lost it now.

"What right do I have to survive all this while they didn't?! WHAT DID I DO?! I did nothing! I did nothing to save Izumi from the glass shards, I did nothing to save Takako when the wires strangled her. I did NOTHING to save you when you were stabbed to death by Kazami...I even failed to protect Mei..." I said miserably.

"I'm a bastard...I was always the survivor...I survived while those around me suffered...What did I do to deserve to still be living?"

I looked at Aki, no, now she's Takako.

"Tell me, even if I live, do you really think I'm gonna forget about all of this, pretend that all of this didn't happened and live a happy life?" I looked at her. Now she's Aya Ayano.

"TELL ME, DAMN YOU! ISN'T IT YOU WHO CAUSED ALL OF THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE, YOU FUCKER!? I KNOW IT'S YOU! YOU'RE YOMIYAMA MISAKI, RIGHT?!" I screamed to the top of my lungs.

I knew this being, whatever it is, is the cause for all of this.

And it had to be the only person, the person whose the curse originated from.

Yomiyama Misaki.

The figure of Aya turned back to the mysterious man again. He looked like a normal teenager, who wears the very Yomiyama North Middle School Uniform I'm wearing now.

"...What do you want from us...why did you do this...why...why don't you just leave us alone..." I asked, exhausted from continuous outbursts.

That figure...Misaki...stood quietly. I can't see his eyes, because his messy black hair covered it.

I've only started to notice that he didn't look like normal humans. His body seems a little transparent...

_Like a ghost._

"I...don't know..." Misaki said.

"That's it...you _don't know_?" And with that, I rushed into him, trying to take him down.

He's trying to justify his actions, all the deaths he've caused, by saying "He doesn't know"?

The most. Stupid. Excuse. Ever.

But I passed through him, as if he didn't exist.

I fell to the floor, but I got back up.

"Why you little..." I ran toward him again, this time, I tried to punch him.

To no avail.

My fists passed right through him, everything I did just passed right through him.

I can't do anything...as usual...

There's nothing a loser like me can do...

"Let it all out. I know I deserved it..." Misaki said.

"...I can't even hurt you... you're already dead..." I crumbled.

Misaki stood over me.

I looked up, but I saw Junta Nakao instead.

"You coward... don't you dare mock me with those you've killed! Don't you dare make fun of them in front of me! You son of a bitch!" I tried to raise my fist again, but I can't...

At last, I collapsed at Junta's feet.

"I don't know...about the curse..." Junta said, but it wasn't his voice.

It was Kubodera-sensei's.

"It was very weird...back then...I didn't even know that I'm dead. I was just...I just went to school just like normal...that day. But nobody spoke to me. It's as if they never see me. I finally realized that I'm already dead when I'm watching the afternoon news in the cafeteria, where I saw my house burned in flame last night, and there were no survivors, not even my parents..." Kubodera/Misaki explained.

"I was stunned, shocked, even frustrated. Why haven't I learned about my own death? Back then, I didn't know what to do. I don't even know why I'm still there when I'm supposed to move on..."

He changed into Yumi Ogara.

"And so I stayed, with no purpose...I stayed with my friends, watching them from afar while they resumed their normal lives. I could tell they too were shocked by my death. Though I never admit it, it's a known fact that I was very popular throughout this school. My untimely death affected all of them. Every day when they should be laugh, chat, play together after school became silence. Even the teachers always tried to avoid conversations that involved me."

She became Kenzou Kawahori now.

"But one day...out of the blue. There was one of my friends. A name I long forgotten, because I don't want to remember...He called out to me..."

"It was just a simple day like every day. I, who have nowhere to go, went to school as usual, just to be with my friends. As I'm sitting down on my seat which was left empty since my death, he called out to me..."

"That guy, that friend of my started talking to me. It was kinda strange. I knew he can't see me, yet he still continues to speak to me. More of our friends then gathered, they look at him strangely..."

Kyouko Kaneki then continued.

"One of them asked him 'Who are you talking to?' and he replied 'I'm discussing with Misaki-san about what to do during the school festival. Right, Misaki?' and then he smiled at me."

"One by one, my former friends began calling out to me. They started imagine that I'm still alive. That nothing ever happened to me. Eventually, the teachers also became to be like the students. It was very strange, but it's nice that I finally have someone to talk to. To tell them about my feelings. The Yomiyama North Middle School started recognized me again...and then that day came..."

Suddenly, the voice changed to Makoto Ouji's.

"The Graduation Day. We're all having a great time. A big party, a fancy festival, an awesome concert, everything was perfect. I felt like I was alive again..."

"At the end of the party. We had a group photo taken, where I was part of them, too. The next day, I found that the photo they've taken has _me_ on it. _Me, _who was supposed to be dead..."

"It all went downhill from there, everyone was terrified by my appearance in that photo. I tried to explain it to them that I was really there, but they didn't seem to hear me anymore. Suddenly, I disappeared."

Kensaku Numata continued explaining Misaki's pasts.

"Then the next year came. The new students found out that there's one extra student in the class, and there's one table short...but I knew the truth..."

"The new student, I knew her before. She died in a train accident two years before I died, and therefore was my senior. She didn't seem to remember anything, and acted like normal, making friends with the students of the Class 3-3. However, the calamity then soon happened..."

"I don't know how it started, nor how to stop it...but it appeared that the existence of the extra one, the 'Dead' person who didn't realize that they were dead, just like me, brought the curse upon this school. Sixteen people died that year, and she, my senior, the 'Dead' one, disappeared after the Graduation party ended..."

Keiko Numata then appeared in the place of her husband...

"And the next year came, and there's a new dead person again. But this time, it wasn't a student. It was a teacher who committed suicide forty years ago. But none of the teachers at school seemed to have recognize him, treating him as if this was his first day at this school..."

"You probably get the picture now. The Calamity happened again, and again, and again..."

Keiko changed into Ikou Takabayashi...

"And more people died...and died...and died..."

...into Sanae Mizuno...

"And I can do nothing to save him...and her... and them..."

...into Yukari Sakuragi...

"Then ten years ago, the class came up with a plan to stop this Calamity. They decided to treat one person as 'the Extra one', treating him or her as if they're not existed. You should already knew that..."

"Eventually, I figured out that since my class's actions in '72 caused all of these Calamities. _I _was the dead person who refused to rest...I was a ghost that's still alive...because they...my friends, my teachers, everyone...refused to believe that I'm dead. Since then, the other 'Dead' people mysteriously came back from the dead, and arrived into this godforsaken school...because their closest ones still remembered them. Some of the 'Extra ones' were even victims of their last Calamity themselves."

"But the dead must stay dead...and since they won't...the living must die in their places." His/Her voice trembled...

I finally looked up, I saw Izumi Akazawa again.

"I didn't...I didn't want any of this! I was just...wanted to be happy with my friends! I didn't mean to kill them! I DIDN'T KILL THEM! PLEASE! BELIEVE ME!"

And then Izumi/Misaki broke down.

"...Every year...I could only watch...those who could've been friends...turn...on each other...died...hating...themselves..."

I stood up, looking at Izumi/Misaki.

"It was only too late...that I realized how to end this curse forever...to stop these pointless deaths..."

"During my Graduation Party, everybody was happy because _I _was there, but after that, they left me once again, because they were terrified of me, my appearance in that photo..."

Izumi/Misaki took a deep breath.

"Action must equals Reaction. Sir Isaac Newton once said that a long time before..."

"The same applied to our relationships. For all the happiness, there will be sadness. For all the gain, it was not without pain..."

Izumi/Misaki looked straight into my eyes.

"...The solution is that one class must sacrifice themselves to join the 'Extra one'. To be his or her friends in the next life and beyond...for the Dead cannot rest without the Living giving them peace, and the Living cannot live as long as the Dead cannot rest. As long as one person from the previous class remained, the curse will still remain in effect...now and forever."

What the hell?

"But that will never happen...everyone just wanted to survive...I can't...I can't ask them to do this...no one in their right mind will just ask for death...and they...they are still young...they still have a long way to go in their lives...I can't just ask them to give it up..."

I looked at Izumi/Misaki. S/he was still crying, his/her body started shaking. I almost pity him/her...

"We're all going to die either way, right..." I finally spoke up.

"...There's still something much more worse than death...".

Izumi/Misaki looked at me confusingly.

"You saw it yourself...they kill to survive...just like savages..." I continued.

"Your friends, my friends. They all died hating each other, and the survivors carry on the despairs and nightmares of the massacre..."

"Who would want that kind of life? It isn't even deserve to be called life..."

Izumi turned back into Misaki again. He finally stopped crying.

"Satoshi, is that you?" He asked, showing me a shocked face.

_Who's Satoshi?_

"You're...you're supposed to be dead!" He screamed out.

I walked toward him, but he crawled away from me.

"Go away! I didn't...I didn't kill you! I didn't mean it! Don't...don't hurt me! I'm sorry!" His eyes were filled with fear.

"If it means betraying my friends, killing my loved ones, just for me to survive...I don't want that kind of life!" I continued.

"Wha! Not you too, Hikari!"

"Life is about living, not about being mindless slaves to the wrongs of nature, or the horrors of men! Even if we die, at least we can choose how we die and how we live."

"Get away from me, Kazuya!"

"That's why I will choose dying, not because I lost my faith in living, but because I believe in it!"

"Stay away! Toshihiro!"

"I believe in my friends, I believe in their right to live, to exist! Even if it's a bad life we got by ourselves, it's still better than a bad life given to us by some freakish supernatural things!"

"I'm sorry! Akemi!"

"That's why I'll die here! With them! With the only friends I ever have! With those I've cared for and being cared in return! I won't let them be my nightmares, but rather join them in creating a new dream for all of us!"

"Get away! Ritsuko! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

I finally reached him, I raised my arms up, and found them to be transparent.

_It's almost over now._

I hugged him, my arms finally connected with his body.

"You've done enough, Misaki-kun. You can rest now..." I told him.

Misaki stopped freaking out.

"Everyone is waiting for you...let's go meet them..."

Misaki's tears started flowing down his face again.

"...Th...thank you...Kouichi-kun..."

He smiled happily, maybe for the first time in decades...

I've misjudged him once before. I thought he was just a vengeful ghost that haunted the living. But no, he's been suffering for far too long, even longer than us. He's a witness to numerous massacres he failed to stop...all of which happened partly because of him...

Just because of a little mistake that created a large rift between life and death...

"Rest in peace, my friend..."

And then he disappeared, and the whole world gone white.


	3. Chapter 3

I opened my eyes, and found myself in the burning house again.

Izumi's lifeless body still laid under me.

"...Sakakibara-kun!" I heard a voice.

I looked up to the door at the end of the corridor, and saw Mei Misaki standing there, as well as the rest of the survivors of Class 3-3, including Naoya and Yuuya, along with my aunt, the 'Extra one', Reiko Mikami. Even Mr. Chibiki is here.

"...Misaki? But...how?"

"I pleaded them to come back to find you!"

"You should be getting out of here!" I shouted. "But..."

_But she must die...along with the rest of the survivors, to stop the curse once and for all._

"Mei...there's something I need to tell you..." I said weakly.

Mei smiled, which made me surprised.

"It's okay, Kouchi-kun. I already understand..." She said.

"But!" I screamed. She can't understand! This is serious! I'm about to ask her, ask _them_, to kill themselves!

"Don't worry, Kouichi. I already know what you're going to do..." She point her finger to her eyes.

_She can see dead people with her eyes._

"I've already seen Misaki-kun...along with everyone else...through your eyes, Kouichi..."

_Through my eyes?_

Then it means...

_I'm going to die._

Naoya and Yuuya carefully walked through the burning hallway to get to me, but I waved them off.

"Naoya, listen to me carefully...we're all going to die..."

"Don't bullshitting me, Kouichi! We're all getting out of here!"

"Goddamnit, Naoya! Mei already showed you what I've seen, right?! The only way this will end is that we must die!"

The ceiling above started crashing down.

"AAAHHHHHHH!" Haruka screamed as the flaming pillars collapsed down on her.

"There's...got...to be...another way!" Yuuya shouted.

More and more survivors got crushed one by one...

"Listen to me, Yuuya! You can either run out of here and live, or we die here and end all of this right now!"

I summoned every last bit of strength still left inside me to speak. My vision's getting blurred again.

Then, I felt someone grabbed my shoulder.

It was Reiko.

"...I understand it now...that man...the funeral...I..." She spoke softly.

"No matter what happens, I'm always here with you, Kouichi."

Another explosion caused a hanging axe to fly off the wall, before sinking into Reiko's back.

She screamed painfully, but still continue to hold my hand tight.

"...Love...you..."

Finally, I collapsed. The last sight of me is Mei, Naoya, Yuuya, Reiko, and the body of Izumi lying under me.

_Is it just me...or is that...smile...on her face?_

And then, everything exploded into a raging inferno.

* * *

"Welcome back, Kouichi-kun." A familiar voice said.

I opened my eyes up again.

I was standing in the empty white place again.

Only this time, I wasn't alone.

Mei, Naoya, Yuuya and my other friends stood beside me.

The people in front of us...are those who perished from the Calamity.

Kazami, Yukari, Ikuo, Keiko, Kubodera-sensei, Kyouko, Aki, Makoto, Junta...

All of our friends.

Izumi Akazawa stood in front of them all, she was smiling.

"So, I guess you're still stubborn...as always." She said.

I walked, along with Mei, toward her.

"I remember it now. That day when you kicked the thin can into my head. Sweet memories." I told her.

"Hmph! Like that will change what you did to me during my last words!" She crossed her arms, looking at me disapprovingly.

Izumi then looked at Mei, who hid behind my back a little.

"She's still afraid of you..." I told her.

Izumi looked at Mei for a while, then she gave her a smile.

_A heartwarming, genuine smile._

"Come on, I won't bite!" She teased Mei, something I never expected her to do.

Mei carefully stepped away from me, and walked toward Izumi.

Then the unthinkable happened.

She hugged her.

"I'm sorry...so sorry...for everything I've done to you...Mei-chan..." Izumi said. Her face saddened.

"It's...it's alright, Akazawa-san..." Mei said.

"At least, we're together now..."

I watched them reconciled. Feeling a bit fuzzy and warm inside my heart.

Then suddenly, Izumi pulled me into the mix.

"Thank you...Kouichi-kun..." She whispered into my ear.

"You did the impossible...you did what none of us could...you brought us together again..."

I looked around, everyone of my friends smiled at us.

I hugged them both tightly.

"It's all over...it's all over now...Nobody has to die a meaningless death anymore..." I told them.

I looked forward into the distance, and saw another group of people standing there.

I recognized one person as Yomiyama Misaki. Alongside him...is my mother and Reiko-san.

The victims of the previous Calamities.

They all gave me smiles, smiles that made me feel alive again.

"Let's move on...together." I said.

For all the bad things in the world...for everything we've suffered...for all that was lost.

At least, this is where it all ended...

The end of everything...and a new beginning.

Maybe...Death isn't so bad after all...

* * *

**Editor's note: Okay, this is a randomness-fic at its finest. I once uploaded this fic from a long time ago, before realizing that I messed the story up a lot, but then I think...screw it...this is how I wanted it to end in the anime, so...here we go again...**

**About how Mei managed to get everyone to go back with her into the mansion...just leave it at random, okay? LOL...**


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